


Episode Thirteen:  The Way of Tooth and Claw

by keirajo



Series: Transformers: Star Voyager [14]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Awkward Romance, Implied Relationships, M/M, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 05:43:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15745443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keirajo/pseuds/keirajo
Summary: We learn why Airrazor is being hunted by Deathsaurus.   We see some hints on why Star Saber won't leave until Deathsaurus is dealt with.   We come to understand why Snaptrap is stuck where he is.And Hot Rod starts acting like a grown-up.





	Episode Thirteen:  The Way of Tooth and Claw

**Author's Note:**

> This could have been a super-long chapter, I was intending on every planetary experience to only be two chapters...........but I've got my rule (two scene breaks--aka "commercial breaks", as we are to treat these as anime episodes!) and I didn't want to have to keep saying "and now back to", to avoid scene breaks and make it way too long. So the Gaea story-arc will run one more chapter..........which makes this one seem like plot filler and a bit short. *laughs*
> 
> But those things happen in anime, too. :)

Episode Thirteen:  The Way of Tooth and Claw

 

 

            This time, when Deathsaurus roared for his underlings, Hun-grr decisively went into hiding.   Snaptrap found himself incredibly annoyed with his companion and tried to hide his frustrations as he faced their commanding officer all on his own.

            “Where is that _stupid_ Hun-grr?”  Deathsaurus snarled.   Ever since he came back from the fight, his Spark hurting and his head throbbing……….he just wanted to _destroy_ everything around him.  The pain from his armour’s interface ports was frying every single pain sensor in his frame.

            “He is scared of your glorious fury, my lord,” Snaptrap responded in a soothing voice, going to a bended knee.

            “That figures,” the former elite unit soldier once known as Deszaras growled.  “The swordsmech is _no longer alone_ —someone I knew once is with him now.  Can you not rouse your Seacons for battle?”   Deathsaurus snapped.

            “They have enjoyed the rut for several days, perhaps I can get them back on task now,” the purple-teal-magenta colored mech said.   “My lord, is it time?  Do you need one of your painkillers?”  He asked, his voice very soft.

            Deathsaurus was silent for a long, anxiety-rendering, several moments.

            “Yes, please.  I _apologize_ for all my snarling,” the blue-and-silver mech finally responded.

            Snaptrap left the room for several moments and returned with a canister of high-grade Energon and a large tablet that had a swallowable mesh-coating over it.   He knelt before handing them over to Deathsaurus.  The beast lord nodded serenely to the Seacon commander and swallowed the pill quickly, taking the entire canister of Energon in one swallow.

            “My lord…….might I ask you a _personal_ question?”  Snaptrap asked, raising his head from his knelt position, to look up at Deathsaurus.

            “I suppose.  There is the likelihood that I _won’t_ answer you,” the blue-and-silver mech responded, rubbing his temples.  Even though the pain was _deep in his frame_ …………someone had done this for him once, to ease his aches.  He could only remember bits of vivid red armour…………..a facial shield retracted so that they could kiss………….and a green Spark more vivid than the verdant meadows in the springtime of Gaea.  It soothed him, even if it was _just a little bit_.

            “Do you miss Cybertron?”  The commander of the Seacons asked, curiously.  “I enjoy having vast seas to swim in, but I was born on Cybertron and I miss it very often.”

            “I’m afraid I _don’t_ really remember Cybertron…………there are just pieces and flashes fractured over pain and time, that is all,” the former elite soldier answered softly.  “I don’t even really remember Gaea unless I go outside every once in a while.  I only know that I _must not fail_ ……….or Liege Maximo will have others do far worse things to me than I’ve already endured.”

            Snaptrap nodded.  The commander of the Seacons suddenly realized that Deathsaurus had _no idea whatsoever_ how many years had passed.   Deathsaurus did not realize he’d been here on Gaea for _two million years_!   The realization of that was actually rather tragic………yesterday could be today, a million years ago could be tomorrow—all Deathsaurus knew were his orders and the “ _now_ ”.

            The purple-magenta-teal colored mech realized that **_this_** was probably why Deathsaurus forgot the season of rut in late summer every year……….and those long months of hibernation every winter.   The reconfigured Decepticon was damaged beyond repair and merely lived every single one of his days through pain and haze.

            “Why is it you’re asking?  The spacebridge is damaged—we _can’t_ fix it, so there’s no going back.  We just have to wait here patiently for Liege Maximo’s ship, the _Nemesis_ , to come to us,” Deathsaurus said, gazing down at the Seacon commander as the pain started to recede with the drugs now scouring his system.

            “I know, I just don’t want to forget _my home_ ……….that’s all,” Snaptrap responded.

            The one other thing that Deathsaurus forgot was that Snaptrap wasn’t originally a Decepticon—neither was Hun-grr.   The commander of the Terrorcons was sent here to live by Onyx Prime by way of requested relocation, while Snaptrap himself had been sent by Onyx Prime on a diplomatic venture to Gaea.  He had spent a decade on Gaea, learning about things and travelling through the villages and on the day he was to return to Cybertron with his reports—that was the day Deathsaurus came storming through the spacebridge portal.  Snaptrap had been in the spacebridge room, here in the temple, waiting with the guardian…….a fiercely protective mech named Silverbolt.

            That day wound up to be a disaster—Snaptrap had been taken hostage, because when Deathsaurus saw that Star Saber had followed him through the portal, he needed leverage to get away and reassess the situation.   The huge blue-and-silver mech had been wounded and probably would have died if Snaptrap hadn’t done a patch-up job on him.   He’d fallen in with the monster, with very little choice…………and it was likely that because Snaptrap had been blunting all of Deathsaurus’ hits on the villages that the whole planet _wasn’t_ a blazing wreck.

            Snaptrap had met those who became his “ _Seacons_ ” later on, as he was trying to find somebody to help him out with Deathsaurus—of course, though, he found _Hun-grr_ first.   Hun-grr loved to fight, so he and his friends (the Terrorcons, as they became known) joined up only to fight…………he was too stupid to realize he was on the “ _side of evil_ ” and the fighting was meant to be mass destruction.  Hun-grr was too stupid to realize that Snaptrap was the only one holding Deathsaurus back from destroying all of Gaea!

            That idiot was too stupid to obey properly and too stupid to be left lumbering on his own in this world.  It was all left to Snaptrap to protect an idiot and take care of a war machine—so it was a good thing that his diplomatic silver tongue worked.   _And it worked well_.

            “My lord…….the swordsmech has awaited your wrath this long, surely one more day will not matter?”  Snaptrap said, soothingly.  “Please try to rest and recharge, until then.”

            “Very well.  But we must also find _that female_ —to get the treasure from her, do not forget!”  Deathsaurus snapped.

            “Of course not, my lord,” the commander of the Seacons responded.  No, it would _not_ be Snaptrap who forgot that………….it was more likely Deathsaurus might forget _even that_ at some point.   “I shall go make preparations for tomorrow’s raids………..” he added, walking out of the room.

            The magenta-teal-purple mech wandered the halls until he came to an out-of-the-way room……the place he knew Hun-grr most often liked to hide.  He _wasn’t_ wrong, either………….the twin-headed beast mech was sleeping on the floor in his monster mode.   For a Cybertronian, he certainly enjoyed spending most of his time in his alt mode over his primary mode.

            “Up, you moron………we need to talk,” Snaptrap sighed, kicking one of the heads lightly with a pede.

            “Don’t wanna………….not if yelled at,” Hun-grr mumbled, shifting his heads and trying to go back to sleep.

            “Get up and get into your primary mode, idiot,” the Seacon commander snapped, kicking both heads a little harder.  “Look, tomorrow we’re going to go raid some villages and see if we can draw the swordsmech out.  I need to explain the plan to you.”

            “Won’t remember anyways,” the Terrorcon commander muttered as he transformed into his primary mode.  He shuffled his legs, scuffing his pedes on the floor.  “Too dumb, everyone thinks so……….” he sighed.

            Snaptrap chuckled, brushing a finger along Hun-grr’s jawline.  “It isn’t to say you don’t have other charms, _hmmmm_?”  He purred softly.

            Hun-grr squirmed, as heat flooded through him.  He never understood why this mech always made him feel like this, but when lips covered his own, he surrendered eagerly to the commander of the Seacons.

 

*      *      *      *      *

 

            Airrazor was wide-eyed and in awe of the interior of the _Star Voyager_.  It was almost as if someone had taken the old villages that she’d seen in pictures and put them together into one building—the metal walls and the rooms that could open and close!    As soon as the young femme had said that, Drift realized that probably the early days of Gaea were not so different than Fortress—they probably used the original colonization ships as habitation blocks.   Though, clearly, Airrazor did not realize that these “ _old villages_ ” used to fly in space—between the colony worlds!

            Of course, Blurr started right out with flirting with the pretty, young femme—until Override literally kicked her ward in the aft and dragged him down to the engine room with her.   Airrazor realized she’d been given “ _desirable attention_ ”, but she merely thought it was because it was the season of rut—because _all males_ acted like that during this time of year on Gaea.

            “Uh, no……..Blurr’s just _like that_ ,” Hot Rod said, giving her a winning smile.  “He’s _never_ had a serious relationship, yet…………I keep hoping for it one day, though.  For me, I had always been looking at only Magnus—but having Drift come along and become part of our relationship has really been good for us all.  I really do hope Blurr will eventually find someone he really wants to be with for more than a few days.”

            “So……..you are in a _trine_?  How long have you been in your trine?”  Airrazor asked, curiously, as Hot Rod showed her all around the ship.

            “Not long, chronologically— _less than a year_.   It’s been so perfect, though, that it feels like _forever_!”  The flame-colored mech said with absolute joy.

            “Oh!   That is so thrilling!”  Airrazor cooed, her metal-designed feathers fluttering along with the happiness rippling in her EM field.

            “Hey, so what is Star Saber to you, Airrazor?   Your relationship feels really familiar to me……..” Hot Rod asked, softly.

            “He is protecting me—it is _not_ mating instinct.  He is strong and I admire that,” the beast-femme answered softly, her voice somewhat sad.  “His Spark aches greatly, there was someone he truly loved once.”

            “It must have been someone else in the elite unit, Mags always said they were a pretty tight group,” the flame-colored mech said, smiling warmly at her.   “And this is the ship’s bridge—otherwise known as the main command center,” he added as the doors slid open for them.

            “It is _so large_!”  Airrazor gasped, standing just inside the doorway and looking everywhere around her.

            Hot Rod drew her down into the forward area, where the piloting stations were—as well as the large viewing screen.   He explained that right now, only Drift and Ultra Magnus had any piloting skills, but Blurr had wanted to learn—so, in any spare time, Drift was teaching Blurr how to pilot the _Star Voyager_.

            “What about you?”  The beast-femme asked, curiously.

            “I dunno.  I’m not…….. _y’know_ ………I don’t really have useful skills like this,” Hot Rod sighed, leaning on the console from the front side of the piloting stations, while the brown-and-gold femme swiveled around in one of the pilot’s seats.   “Drift thinks I have a special destiny, so I guess that’s really the _only_ reason that I’m here.”

            “Ah.  I understand this.  In my village, there were _only mechs_.  When I emerged from the sparknest as a femme—it seemed as if I fit the parameters of an ancient legend,” Airrazor said, a soft tone of sadness in her light voice.

            “Are femmes rare on Gaea?”  The flame-colored mech asked with surprise in his voice.

            “They are uncommon, yes, but not really rare…………..I am _only rare_ because I can _bear new life_ within my frame,” the beast-femme answered.

            Hot Rod’s mouth opened, but he couldn’t even think of what to say.

            “The Terrorcons invaded my village because their lord heard it held a secret, they all seem to think it is a _treasure of some sort_ —they do not realize that the secret is _me_.  Sir Star Saber has been protecting me, because in the season of rut…………every male on the planet will want to claim me,” she said.  “The prestige of being the male to produce new life with me is a reward beyond comparison for them.”

            “Then you………… _wait_.  On Gaea………… _is it_ ………?”  Hot Rod began, rubbing his helm, wondering if it was okay to ask such a personal biological thing.  “Femmes _only_ have valves and mechs _only_ have spikes?”  He murmured, softly.

            “Yes, that is right,” Airrazor answered with a bright smile.

            Hot Rod was clearly trying to sort that out in his head.   But if _that_ were the case………..and femmes were _uncommon_ on this world.  Then _in the season of rut_ ……….how did _that_ ………..?   He rubbed his helm some more, confused by it all.  Did they……… _in their beast-modes_ ………….?  Or in their _primary forms_ ………..?   All of the sudden, one single thought came to him and he facepalmed himself as he realized that was the most likely answer.  _The aft_ ………of course.  _All_ mechs and femmes had _that opening_ , after all………..

            Airrazor chuckled politely as she realized the conclusion the young flame-colored mech had come to.

            “Okay………… _seriously_ —don’t let Blurr seduce you into a berth.  Primus—I love my best friend, but he is in _no way_ ready to sire a sparkling!”  Hot Rod whispered fiercely to her.

            “ _Ah-ha-ha!_    I will remember that, sir Hot Rod,” Airrazor laughed warmly.

            Then the bridge doors whooshed open and Ultra Magnus came in alone.

            “Hey Mags!   Can Override fix Star Saber’s armour?”  Hot Rod asked, brightly, as he looked up to see who had come in.

            “She said she would take care of it in the engine room, since the medi-bay is in shambles,” the old soldier answered, walking down to where the piloting stations were.   “So, she’s also keeping Blurr occupied with the task as well.  Star Saber and Drift are sparring in the recreation room………I suppose _this_ is what happens when two swordmechs meet,” he chuckled.

            “You know, I think we should get more of the ship fixed up………….we’ll probably really want that medi-bay at some point!”  Hot Rod said with a wry smile.   “That means, we should _try_ to look for a doctor, too……” he trailed off, thoughtfully.

            _And there it was again._   Ultra Magnus looked at Hot Rod with an apprising gaze.  That sudden shift into seriousness and deep thought.   After they had left Corona behind, it would keep peeking through his youthfulness and passion.   It seemed as if Hot Rod might even have some kind of leadership abilities in there somewhere—he had _the charisma_ , for certain.   Maybe this was on the path to Hot Rod’s destiny—maybe he would become a great commander…….?

            “Airrazor………..maybe you could come with us?”  Hot Rod asked, looking at her hopefully.

            “To…….. _to other planets_?”  The young beast-femme gasped.  Her Spark swirled in her chest, dancing with excitement.  To do something like that in her life would be _a dream come true_!

            “Mags………do you think Star Saber would come with us, too?  Wheeljack said even if we didn’t run into Decepticons—we might encounter hostility from the colonists.  We could probably use some more fighters, right?”  Hot Rod asked, looking up at Ultra Magnus, grinning at his lover and guardian.

            “This is true.  But Star Saber………….he’s decided that he will not leave Gaea until Deathsaurus has been dealt with,” the old soldier sighed.  “I’m certain that he’d encourage you to come with us, if it’s truly what you want, little one,” he added, gazing down at Airrazor with a smile.

            “ _Other worlds!_   I would like to see how different they are—I _truly_ would!”  The brown-and-gold femme gushed, her vocalizer pitch trilling melodiously.

            Ultra Magnus smiled fondly at the two youths.  It looked like she and Hot Rod were already becoming fast friends.  It was good to see Hot Rod making new friends, rather than always being glued to Blurr forever.  And, in truth, the old soldier could see the benefits of having a new, fresh face among them.  And, if Star Saber came along………….Ultra Magnus might not feel as much pressure to protect everyone  as he currently did.

            But he truly worried about his former elite unit member.  Star Saber was obsessed with this………this desire to put Deszaras out of his misery.  Hadn’t they _only_ interfaced a handful of times, though?  Why this _absolute obsession_ …………?   Star Saber seemed angry, but also full of _longing_ …………it was a very strange conundrum.

            “Hey Mags………Airrazor……..since _none of us_ are doing anything important—let’s go clean up the medi-bay and any of the other rooms that might need it!”  Hot Rod said, enthusiastically.  He’d noticed that Ultra Magnus was getting a little stressed out, so he wanted to do something to make the mech he loved feel better—that _wasn’t_ merely a romp in the berth.

            About two hours later, the three of them had the medi-bay up in functioning condition.  It looked really great!   Soon after they had finished and were lounging around to rest, Drift had come looking for them while Star Saber went to the engine room to check on his armour repairs.

            “The medi-bay looks _amazing_!  This was a great idea, Magnus!”  Drift said, grinning over at the old soldier.

            “It was Hot Rod’s idea, actually,” Ultra Magnus responded with a smile.  “He’s on a mission to fix up all the rooms now.”

            “I think we should take along anyone that wants to come with us, Drift,” Hot Rod said with a great big grin.  “Oh, by the way………..we found some things that your mentor left behind,” he added, pointing to a crate by the door.

            Drift walked over and peered into it…………it was full of guns, rifles and other projectile weapons.

            “Not a single bow, though………” Hot Rod said with a pout in his young voice.

            “There’s no way Starscream would hoard something _non-lethal_ like that,” Drift responded with a light laugh.  “Here……….now I’ll show you guys where the weaponsroom is—let’s make that _the next one_ we clean.”

 

*      *      *      *      *

 

            Star Saber knew he had to go when scans showed a couple of villages were under attack…………one was being assaulted by the Terrorcons and the other by the Seacons.   Ultra Magnus volunteered to take on one of the groups, that way Star Saber could focus on the other group.  The old soldier asked Override to stay here with the “ _kids_ ”, who did nothing but grumble about it of course.

            “How does your armour feel?”  Ultra Magnus asked as he chose and tested a couple of the rifles to use for himself.

            “It’s good enough,” Star Saber chuckled, taking a couple of small blasters as backups.  “Kinda weird to put it back on after having it off for a little while—but I’m sure it was a lot less time for me than it was for you,” he laughed.  The elite swordsmech slid his large sword into the proper sheath on his armour’s back.  “The Terrorcons are fierce, but they’re _not_ very organized.  If you keep them separated and _don’t let them combine_ , they’ll pretty much give up fast.  Hun-grr is really kind of dumb.”

            “Combine?” Ultra Magnus gasped, softly.  “I thought that was an impossibility.”

            “It might be the way of this world.  Hun-grr and Snaptrap both came from Cybertron, but the members of their teams were born here.  The natural rhythms of this planet probably made the teams adaptable to combination under strong leaders,” Star Saber answered carefully.

            “ _Understood_ ………good luck, Star Saber,” the old soldier responded, dipping his shoulders respectfully.

            Star Saber saluted and they went in different directions.  Ultra Magnus transformed into his armour’s alt mode, a large transport carrier, and sped to the village that the Terrorcons were attacking.   It was chaos in the small village……….huts were on fire and the villagers were huddled in the square.  The old soldier sped up and transformed, sliding to a stop on his pedes with a rifle at the ready.  A few well-aimed shots concussed the large blaze.

            “Who disturbs?”  Hun-grr snapped, lumbering about to face the newcomer with both of his monster heads weaving.  “You……….. _not Gaean_!!”  Both heads hissed in fury.  Acid spat out of one mouth and sparks from another—the two elements combined into a firestorm directed at Ultra Magnus.

            The old elite soldier stanced and brought his forearms together, a two-piece shield snapped together from subspace.  The blast of fire was directed up into the sky and burned out quick.  Ultra Magnus snapped his arms away from each other and the shield popped back into its subspace compartment.   Before Hun-grr could react to his deflected attack, the soldier rushed at him.  Ultra Magnus grabbed the necks of the twin monster heads and pivoted on his pedes to throw Hun-grr onto the ground, on his back.

            “ ** _No fairrrrrrrrr_**!!!”  Both heads howled as stumpy legs waved in the air.

            Ultra Magnus pulled back, shaking his head.  Star Saber was right—this Hun-grr was really _very dumb_!  If he’d just transform into his primary mode, it would solve the “ _trapped on the back_ ” issue immediately!

            With resolve, the soldier turned to the other Terrorcons…………who had suddenly gathered together, huddled into a pile of misfit monsters, trembling upon seeing their leader’s defeat—afraid of the powerful mech who had defeated the twin-headed monster mech.  Ultra Magnus couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.  He sighed and reached down to pick Hun-grr up and set him back on his stumpy monster legs.

            “ _Go_.  And _do not_ return,” the old soldier snapped, softly.

            The Terrorcons retreated, mewling and crying, and Ultra Magnus turned to focus on the villagers.  “It should be all right now,” he said to the huddled villagers.

            “ _You_ ………..are not the wandering swordsmech…………” one young mech said, with yellow armour and brown derma.  He had a pattern of black broken circles on his armour.

            “He is my friend.  My name is _Ultra Magnus_ ,” the old soldier introduced.  “Is there anything I can do for you while I’m here?”  He asked, softly.

            “I am _Cheetor_ ……….I guess I’m chief of this village now, since the old mech _Leo_ is gone,” the young beast-mech answered.  “I _think_ we’ll be okay………..”

            The villagers all looked at each other and murmured, nodding serenely.

            “All right, then……….. _take care_ ,” Ultra Magnus said.  He transformed and drove back to where they landed the shuttle.  He didn’t have to wait too long for Star Saber.

            “Snaptrap retreated the moment that he got word that Hun-grr had been beat,” Star Saber laughed.  “Those two are _weird_ —always arguing, but………” he trailed off, looking a bit sad for a moment.  “We should get back before the kids worry and do something dumb,” the swordsmech chuckled.

            They took the shuttle back to the _Star Voyager_ and were chatting as they walked to the bridge.  But before they could get there, Override stopped them in the corridors.

            “Magnus—Hot Rod left the ship and Airrazor went with him!”  The sturdy femme snapped.  “Drift is between fury and worry………..while Blurr’s pacing holes in the flooring!”  She sighed, loudly.

            “Just a sec,” Star Saber murmured, touching his audial lightly.  “My lady says that a distress call was received—they went to take care of it.  Something about Sparks………..?”

            “A distress call?  But if we were busy with the minions, then………..” Ultra Magnus trailed off, worry mounting inside of him.

            “It’s _not_ Deathsaurus—my lady knows what he looks like it,” Star Saber reported, still listening to the communique from the beast-femme that he’d been protecting.   “It’s a………. _hybrid beast_?”  He murmured, puzzled.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be typing my G1 "final" story in my "Emperor and Prime" series this coming week, as I work on getting Episode 14 completed in my notebook. :)


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